Following his extremely impressive first-round victory over Robert Whittaker at UFC 308 last October, Khamzat Chimaev has seemingly already returned to camp.
One of the biggest criticisms of Khamzat Chimaev in recent years concerns his inactivity, as he only manages to fight once a year.
Despite this, he recently proved again that he is championship material when he submitted Robert Whittaker in the first round of their UFC 308 co-main event, crushing his teeth in the process.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Fans react to new training footage of Khamzat Chimaev
Following his victory over 'The Reaper', UFC CEO Dana White admitted he could have surpassed Sean Strickland in the hunt for the next middleweight title.
With that, 185-pound champion Dricus Du Plessis revealed that he would '100%' rather fight 'Borz' instead of fighting Strickland. The South African further claimed he would likely defend his title at UFC 312 in February in Sydney.
However, Strickland claimed he will not fight in Australia, potentially leaving the door open for Chimaev, who recently claimed he will be at UFC 312 to do fan meet and greets as a guest fighter.
Despite this, the 30-year-old posted some new training footage online, showing he is back in camp, which has drawn a response from fans.
'He's training again. Title fight soon?” one fan commented on the video.
However, some fans were more critical of Chimaev for his boxing on the pads, claiming he should stick to his strengths.
“Sharpen the tools? It's more like trying to avoid being exposed!” another fan responded.
“This is why he should stick to wrestling,” another critical fan commented on the video of Chimaev cracking pads with his coach, Ildar Aisin.
Robert Whittaker claims Khamzat Chimaev should fight for the title next
Apparently one of the main reasons for Chimaev's recent inactivity is the fact that he couldn't get a visa to fight in the United States.
However, with the recent re-election of Donald Trump, 'Borz' could once again be able to fight in the United States after Trump gave him a shoutout prior to his last fight.
The general consensus among the fanbase and experts is that Chimaev should be next in line instead of Strickland, and that's something Whittaker agrees with after his loss to 'Borz'.
“I think (Khamzat) should go straight to Dricus. I don't think sitting out should be rewarded,” Whittaker said on the MMArcade Podcast.
Since losing his title to 'Stillknocks' in January, Strickland has fought just once, defeating Paulo Costa in an extremely passive bout.
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